


Then Beggars Would Ride

by Doctopus



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: F/F, Flights of fancy, I changed the episode a little bit to make it work, Minorly - Freeform, Pre-Relationship, Totally unbeta'd I wanted it out there, just in the timing of events, y'know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-17
Updated: 2014-04-17
Packaged: 2018-01-19 18:47:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1480156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doctopus/pseuds/Doctopus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set during the events of "If Wishes Were Horses", following Kira throughout the episode. Slight AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Then Beggars Would Ride

**Author's Note:**

  * For [celestialskiff](https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestialskiff/gifts).



> For justwolf. Her idea, my execution.

On the whole, it was a very minor thing. Nerys didn't know quite why it bothered her so much. Certainly, it wasn't ideal: tardiness was frowned on, even in Starfleet, but there was no crisis at the moment. It niggled at her though. Smart though she might be, Dax was far too cavalier for Nerys' liking. Still, Sisko looked unperturbed, and Nerys was making attempts to not irritate the human officer. He'd proven himself reasonable enough, and less of a philosophical hand worrier than some Starfleet officers she'd met...but she'd heard about him punching Q, when he'd been pushed. Anyone not afraid to that, well... She didn't want to incur that ire for no good reason.

The sound of the turbolift interrupted her thoughts. "Sorry I'm late-" Jadzia seemed entirely unruffled, for all her apologies. "I was having dinner with Julian."

Sisko glanced up, assessing. Nerys was gratified to see him at least weigh a rebuke before abandoning it. "How is our young doctor?" She could see Jadzia out of the corner of her eye, pausing, readying a quip-

"Young." A hint of a smile. Jadzia seemed to enjoy the effect she had on Bashir, even if she wasn't going to pursue it. "Anything going on?" Looking up, Nerys put down the odd frustration she'd been feeling with the Trill (She liked Dax, but sometimes that uncaring attitude got right under her skin), and spoke.

"We were just looking at an unusual energy reading." It was surprising, even after a few months of acquaintance, to see Jadzia slip from confident, casual fun-lover to focused scientist. The transformation was so natural that you would've thought her to be two different people. Or seven, as it might be.

She sat, "Elevated thoron emissions in the plasma field."

"We thought it might be an environmental byproduct created by the increased traffic in this area." Sisko's theory, even though he was implying shared credit. Nerys managed to keep abreast, but she wasn't a scientist by any means. The occupation hadn't left much time for learning anything more esoteric than how to rig a Cardassian disruptor to explode in the hand.

"Could be. Ships have always avoided the Denorios Belt... we have no idea how the presence of so many warp and impulse engines might affect it. Question is -- is this going to cause us any problems?"

She couldn't resist a small dig. "We were hoping you could tell us." The small smile she got at that dissipated the last of the irritation, as Jadzia set to work. Nerys found herself smiling at the console below her, lips quirked.

\-----------------

A half an hour later, the amusement had dissipated entirely. O'Brien had come in, with security escorting some little creature who he claimed was from a fairy-tale. The ensuing chaos had led to Sisko with a long dead ball-player, and Jadzia and Julian arriving on the scene. It had gone from merely strange to surreal when another Jadzia had arrived, her posture entirely different. Watching the fake Dax drape herself on Julian was bizarre. The real Jadzia seemed to take it in stride, but Nerys could detect a hint of annoyance. She could empathize - having someone's fantasy of yourself had to be discomfiting. In her own way, she was happy her imagination hadn't done anything strange. She didn't tend to imagine happy things.

Right now, she didn't even have the time to imagine a worse situation, anyway. Evacuating the pylons was taking all of her time. For ever person who came along, there were one or two holdouts who thought it would all blow over, and going door to door was taking it's toll. She sighed as the turbolift arrived. Stepping in, rubbing her face.

"Hm. Looks like we've found what can blunt that Bajoran stubbornness." Jadzia's voice was a teasing lilt, startling Nerys as she jerked her head up. She hadn't even heard the Trill enter the turbolift. Back during the Occupation, inattention like that would have gotten her killed. She snapped, unthinking, bristling.

"And it looks like we've found some people who aren't doing what they're supposed to- You should be in the lab with Julian, figuring this out!" Jadzia's smile didn't flicker, turning a bit challenging.

"The data's being analyzed. Experiments take time, you know. Much like you with an evacuation. I figured I'd help." Nerys scowled, but relented. She needed all the help she could get at the moment. The turbolift opened onto the next pylon.

"You take the right side, I'll take the left. After this I've got to report to Sisko." Jadzia nodded, sliding past her, close enough that Nerys could smell a whiff of something floral... Bajoran Lilacs? She'd never noticed the Trill wearing perfume before... Shaking her head, she move on, knocking on doors and talking to residents. She didn't have time to think about perfumes.

\-----------------

Later, during the briefing about the Hanoli system, Nerys couldn't detect a hint of Bajoran Lilac from Jadzia. She tried not to feel disappointed: the scent was a soothing one, and with the possibility of Bajor's destruction, she could have used all the soothing she could get.

\-----------------

The habitat ring was crowded, and the sounds of the various imagined beings was overwhelming, but Nerys felt better down here. Up in Ops, the photon torpedoes were being altered, and Nerys had felt useless. In the habitat ring, she could at least play crowd control, and keep an eye on things. She could see Odo in the mix, moving security officers with his usual precision, and occasionally glancing up at her so she could indicate any spots he hadn't noticed - a rare occurrence.

"Enjoying the cacophony?" Dax settled in beside her on the railing. Nerys frowned, in part because she'd been snuck up on, again, and because the science officer should have been in Ops. She opened her mouth, and Jadzia raised a hand. "Easy. I came down to get a breath of air. O'Brien doesn't need me for a couple of minutes, and we're starting after that. I thought I'd come join you, and we could go back up together."

Nerys untensed, and nodded, staring out over the crowd. They looked worried, uncertain. "Nervous?" The Trill looked at her, with some concern. Nerys didn't react, breathing through her nose. Lilac...

"You put your perfume back on." Surprise flickered across Jadzia's face.

"You noticed. I find it soothing, and things are tense enough right now... No sense in inviting nerves." She moved her arms, from behind her back. "To be honest, I'm a little worried. You can't ever be sure, in these crises." Nerys nodded, looking at her. The other woman had a few lines of worry on her forehead... Sometimes she forgot they were the same age, with the weight of that three hundred year old symbiont on Jadzia's shoulders.

"Don't lose your nerve now, Lieutenant. We can't afford that." Jadzia narrowed her brows, and then smiled.

"I suppose we can't. Walk with me?" Nodding towards the turbolift. Nerys stepped back from the railing, and was promptly surprised as Jadzia reached and grabbed her hand.

"What're you-"

"It's soothing. Like the lilac. Please?" Nerys wanted to protest, but couldn't, seeing the slight note of fear in Dax's eyes. She didn't respond, except to walk, holding Dax's hand, towards the lift. Trying to ignore how warm and soft the Trill's fingers felt in hers. Inside, she expected Dax to let go, but even as the lift slid upward towards Ops, those warm fingers shifted against hers.

"Thank you." A smile, and a squeeze. Nerys felt and odd fluttering in her chest, but any response was halted by the doors opening. The command staff at their consoles. Sisko, O'Brien, Julian with the other Dax hovering around him nervously, and-

Nerys felt the blood drain out of her face as she met Jadzia's eyes, wide with shock. The Trill, the REAL Jadzia, sitting at the console, staring at her. The warm fingers against hers shifted, so real, and yet suddenly, horribly fake- 

And gone. Leaving her alone in the lift.

Nerys closed her eyes, counted to ten, and marched to her console, not looking at either Dax, not even once.

\-----------------

After, she'd decide that they both wouldn't mention it, and chalk it up to the experimentation of the aliens. She wouldn't think of it, not at all.

\-----------------

At the end of the day, Jadzia felt more than a little amused. The Major had looked so startled, so serious when she'd come up, with another Dax beside her. It was cute, it really was. She'd tease her about it, if she didn't think it'd only lead to a classical Major Kira eruption. Some people just didn't know how to handle their fantasies, and what they said about them. As for her... Well.

She basked, briefly, in remembrance of her break earlier in the day. Stopping by her quarters, with the warmth and light of Risa shining from her door, a nice set of soft cushions for tumbling into, the way Emony liked... Blood wine opened on the table, and one of Tobin's favorite pieces playing. And on the bed, wide, inviting eyes on either side of a wrinkled Bajoran nose, red uniform invitingly open...

She'd have to reassure the Major, and soon. There was absolutely nothing wrong with a little bit of daydreaming.

**Author's Note:**

> The events didn't /quite/ play out like this, but I changed them only a little. The evacuation is supposed to take place after the briefing, but I preferred it my way. Hopefully it doesn't ruin anyone's enjoyment.
> 
> There might be a sequel, we'll see if it grows in my brain.
> 
> As always, comment and review please. I am a thirsty, thirsty cactus, and compliments or criticism are water.


End file.
